David Gray

Biography

From Glasgow, David is a final year pupil at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh. He first played the piano by ear when he was four and started to have piano lessons when he was five. Since then, all David has wanted to be was a concert pianist and writes, “I can’t imagine doing anything else, as I live and breathe music; it is all that goes round my head all day.”

David is considered to be “one of the most outstandingly talented students” to have studied at St Mary’s Music School, and a sensitive and imaginative musician with exceptional technical facility. Some of his finest achievements are winning the Cathedral Class of the Moray Piano Competition in 2005, being awarded an 'Excellent Plus' by Yonty Solomon on three occasions, as part of St Mary’s annual assessment and winning the Directors’ Recital Prize at St Mary’s in 2007.

In 2005 David won the international ‘Young Theatre Organist of the Year’ competition in Los Angeles, and has since then been invited to play in concerts throughout the UK and the USA, where he has built up an enviable fan-base. He plays a wonderful version of Highland Cathedral on the theatre organ which goes down a treat in the States.

David performed the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 at the 2008 St Mary's Music School end of term concert, which was aired on BBC Radio Scotland's 'Classics Unwrapped'. The presenter of the programme commented that David was a 'name to watch out for in the future.'

David was offered places and scholarships at three of the major music conservatoires. He accepted a place at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will help David through his undergraduate degree in piano performance at the RAM, London. David's support has been continued into his second, and now third year of study. A few of the highlights at the start of his third year include his performance debut at St John's, Smith Square, where he shared the stage with some top musicians, and a performance of music by Frank Zappa which was subsequently recorded on an official Academy CD.